Man's 'kill manifesto' outlined plot to shoot males at Virginia church over failed prayer and lack of romance, police say



Virginia police say that a man who was arrested at a church with a gun and a knife was plotting a violent attack after being upset that prayer didn't work and he couldn't find a romantic relationship.

35-year-old Rui Jiang of Falls Church was arrested in September at the Park Valley Church in Haymarket after police received a tip about his alleged plot against the church.

The tip was made by a woman who had met Jiang from a dating app and went out on a date with him in 2023 but stopped seeing him. She became alarmed after seeing his posts on social media that appeared to express hostility toward the church and Christianity. One allegedly read, "Blood will be on your hands."

Police questioned her, and when they went to the church, they found that their security had already spotted him and was escorting him from the building. They said that he was tapping on glass and doing other things that made it look like he was "casing" the church.

Police disarmed him of the handgun and ammunition and arrested him at that time.

On Tuesday, local law enforcement said they were dropping charges against Jiang in order that federal charges could be pursued instead.

A 33-page affidavit outlined the case against Jiang, who has denied planning to attack the church. He told police that he had a concealed carry permit and was often armed.

Police said Jiang had been a member of the church but that he had grown disgruntled after participating in a tithing challenge where he donated $450 to the church. He emailed the church demanding a refund two days before his arrest and received it.

When police searched his home, they found numerous copies of a one-page note where he claimed to have been a government assassin and apologized to "the families of those men about to be slain."

He detailed further his anger against the church in the letter.

"Despite my continued sacrifices in the name of duty, my quiet donations to churches, God's community," he allegedly wrote, "praying on my knees every morning at 5am for an hour, thanking God in Jesus' name, despite my faith even in my worst of days, nothing has changed, my mental health continues to deteriorate. I am not allowed to be in love. To experience love. To experience a romantic relationship."

The letter went on to say that he was targeting men in romantic relationships.

"I want them to know what it's like to be me — to labor through yearning for that romantic love and never obtaining it," he allegedly wrote.

Police called it a "kill manifesto."

Here's more about the allegations:

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Dramatic footage shows heroic officers thwart massacre at Lakewood Church while one cop prays over a wounded child



A deranged anti-Semite from El Salvador dragged her son into Joel Osteen's Houston-area megachurch on Feb. 11 and began shooting wildly. Genesse Moreno's attempted massacre was swiftly thwarted by a 28-year-old off-duty Houston Police Department officer and a 38-year-old Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission officer.

The Houston Police Department released footage of the incident Monday, showing Genesse Moreno's incursion into Lakewood Church and her confrontation with the heroes therein.

Surveillance footage outside the church shows Genesse Moreno — who sometimes called herself Jeffrey Escalante — pull her 7-year-old son Samuel out of a white SUV, then march over to an entrance just ahead of the church's 2 p.m. Spanish-language service, dressed in a trench coat and carrying a backpack.

Another view shows multiple people peaceably mingling in a hallway on the west side of the church scatter in response to the crackle of gunfire. While churchgoers and others run for cover, HPD Officer Christopher Moreno rushes toward the commotion.

The shooter, who can be seen from another vantage ignoring the pleas and outstretched arms of her son, fires at Officer Moreno, prompting him to respond in kind, then take cover inside a doorway off the hallway. Genesse Moreno continues marching forward with rifle in hand, passing the officer — who has been on the force since January 2023.

According to HPD Assistant Chief Keith Seafous, the shooter attempted to enter the sanctuary, but the entrance doors were fortunately locked.

Footage shows TABC Officer Adrian Herrera, working security for the church at the time, approach the shooter from the rear with his handgun drawn and at least three other individuals in tow.

Genesse Moreno can be observed taking notice of the armed presence behind her and opening fire, nearly striking Herrera.

After Herrera answered back with his duty weapon, Moreno began to rifle through her backpack on the ground. The Houston Chronicle indicated that at the time, she had sprayed substances on the floor, which Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña later determined were not hazardous.

Officer Moreno's bodycam footage captures the shooter announcing, "There's a bomb in this bag. Stop shooting."

Security pleads with the shooter to drop her weapon, but she refuses, yelling, "The bomb is gonna go off."

The shooter reiterates, saying, "I will blow up the whole f***ing place."

— (@)

While Genesse Moreno appeared to be preparing the next phase of her attack, Herrera continued his advance, ultimately dropping the shooter with a decisive shot. After floundering on the ground for a moment near her supposed explosive device, Moreno stiffened.

In the exchange, 7-year-old Samuel was shot in the head.

HPD Officer Garcia, whose body camera captured some of the chaos surrounding the incident, can be seen running up to the wounded child and praying over his body.

"Father God, please bring him close to you," says Garcia. "Please bring him close to you."

On her way over to the gun battle, Garcia had similarly prayed, "Father God, just be with us. Forgive us our sins."

Uncertain whether the shooter had a bomb, the officers dragged the shooter's child to safety, then cautiously approached.

Walli Carranza, the boy's grandmother, indicated over the weekend that Samuel was recently removed from a ventilator and is now breathing on his own but nevertheless remains in critical condition.

Tom George Thomas, the 57-year-old volunteer at the church who caught a bullet to the hip during the incident, was released from a hospital in stable condition the day after the shooting.

Blaze News previously noted that Genesse Moreno had multiple run-ins with the law prior to shooting up Lakewood Church. She was slapped with charges for drug possession, assault, illegal possession of a weapon, resisting arrest, and forgery.

Houston Homicide Commander Christopher Hassig indicated that the gender-bending shooter was also temporarily detained in 2016 over mental health concerns and had a history of mental illness.

According to Genesse Moreno's former mother-in-law, Rabbi Walli Carranza, the shooter was a schizophrenic who had been diagnosed with Munchausen by proxy. Moreno allegedly harmed her child more than once and had been the subject of multiple child protective services investigations.

Genesse Moreno had also at one time lost custody of her child but apparently regained it in 2022.

Police indicated early in their investigation that they had discovered some of the shooter's "anti-Semitic writings." Her neighbors spoke of repeated threats, Nazi salutes, and in one instance, the shooter painting a swastika on a nearby resident's fence.

Carranza told the New York Times that Genesse Moreno was a practicing Muslim who frequently targeted her Jewish in-laws with "very anti-Semitic" rants that "were very profane and ... horrible."

Police have not yet confirmed a motive for the attack.

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‘Free Palestine’ Shooter At Joel Osteen’s Houston Megachurch Foiled By Good Guys With Guns

Without the intervention of off-duty officers, more of Lakewood’s tens of thousands of attendees could have fallen victim to a mass shooting.

Alabama churchgoer in his 70s hailed as a hero for bludgeoning, apprehending gunman in deadly church shooting



There was a deadly shooting at an Alabama church on Thursday, but it could have been even more bloody if it was not for the heroics of an elder churchgoer.

A man attended a "Boomers Potluck" dinner gathering at the St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in the Birmingham suburb of Vestavia Hills around 6 p.m. on Thursday, according to police. The man – who had attended services at the church in the past – allegedly introduced himself to other churchgoers as "Mr. Smith."

The man sat at a table by himself, according to Rev. Doug Carpenter – who was a pastor at St. Stephen's for 30 years before retiring in 2005. Church members reportedly invited the man to sit at their table and offered him a plate of food, but he declined.

Soon after, the man pulled out a handgun and opened fire.

During the church shooting, the gunman killed 84-year-old Walter Rainey, 75-year-old Sarah Yeager, and an unnamed 84-year-old woman, according to a statement issued by the Vestavia Hills Police Department on Friday.

However, the carnage could have been far worse if not for the bravery of one parishioner. An unidentified churchgoer in his 70s at the potluck dinner purportedly incapacitated the church shooter by bludgeoning him and then apprehending the armed man.

"He hit him with a folding chair, wrestling him to the ground, took the gun from him and hit him in the head with his own gun," Carpenter said, according to Fox News.

The churchgoer held the shooter down until law enforcement arrived at the crime scene.

Capt. Shane Ware of the Vestavia Hills Police Department said the brave churchgoer was "extremely critical in saving lives."

"The person that subdued the suspect, in my opinion, was a hero," Ware proclaimed.

District Attorney Danny Carr later identified the suspect as Robert Findlay Smith, CBS News reported. Smith, 70, was arrested and charged with capital murder, according to the Jefferson County District Attorney's office.

Smith's mugshot released by the Jefferson County Jail shows the suspect with a large black eye, as well as injuries to his nose and forehead.

Smith's motivation for the church shooting is unclear at this time.

Carpenter said the shooting "doesn't make sense," and asked, "Why would a guy who’s been around for a while suddenly decide he would go to a supper and kill somebody?"

Carpenter said of Smith, "He was kind of distant and very much a loner."

The Rev. Rebecca Bridges – the associate rector at St. Stephen's – held an online prayer service on the church's Facebook page on Friday morning. Bridges prayed for the victims, the church members, and the shooter.

"We pray that you will work in that person's heart," Bridges said. "And we pray that you will help us to forgive."

Democrat Eric Swalwell gets slapped down for trying to pin church shooting on Republicans



Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell of California was hit with a backlash of ridicule after he tried to blame Republicans for a horrific shooting at a church in California.

Police were still investigating the shooting at the Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods on Sunday when Swalwell assumed the attacker's motivation to be something related to the Republican party.

"Sorry @housegop that the parishioners hog-tied your boy," tweeted Swalwell, adding a hashtag for "Sorry, not sorry," and a link to the story documenting how parishioners hog-tied the suspect.

On Monday, police said that they believed the suspect had attacked the church out of his animosity for the Taiwanese people and called it a "politically motivated hate incident."

They identified the assailant as David Chou, 68. Chou is an immigrant from China and lived in multiple places in the U.S. before he ended up in Las Vegas, Nevada. His bail was set at $1 million.

Critics of Swalwell rushed to excoriate the Democrat for rushing to blame Republicans without any evidence to prove his contention.

"The shooter was from mainland China... targeting Taiwanese-American Christians. Sounds like he may have been more your boy, Congressman," read one popular response.

"I’m beginning to think you’re just an all around horrible human being who needs to reevaluate his entire life," responded commentator Justin Haskins.

"A representative is openly celebrating the death of an innocent person," read another tweet. "Miserable POS."

"You are an awful, awful human being," read another response.

"This guy might not be the dumbest member of Congress, but it's likely," replied another detractor.

Others made jokes referencing Swalwell's previous relationship with a woman that was later revealed to be a Chinese spy.

One man was killed and four others were wounded in the attack on Sunday. Police praised former Pastor Billy Chang as a hero for fighting back against the attacker and likely preventing far more casualties.

Here's more about the church shooting:

Shooting At Taiwanese Church ‘Politically Motivated Hate Incident’: Officialswww.youtube.com

Fugitive kills pastor, injures another after breaking into Texas church



A fugitive on the run from law enforcement killed a pastor and injured another at an East Texas church early Sunday morning after disarming the pastor and firing the weapon, authorities said.

What happened?

The atrocious shooting took place at Starrville Methodist Church in Winona, Texas, a small town about 100 miles east of Dallas, after the suspect, 21-year-old Mytrez Deunte Woolen, was discovered hiding from police in the church.

Woolen had allegedly been involved in another shooting on Saturday night in Tyler but had fled law enforcement, KXAS-TV reported. He reportedly broke into the church at around 2 a.m. local time on Sunday after police had left the area.

Upon arriving ahead of the Sunday morning service, Pastor Mark McWilliams, 62, found Woolen hiding in the bathroom and holding bank bags that belonged to the church. McWilliams brandished a shotgun and ordered Woolen to lie on the floor, but Woolen refused, instead lunging for the gun.

Woolen was able to disarm the pastor and opened fire, striking him. McWilliams ultimately died from his injuries. Two others were reportedly injured during the incident, one by gunfire and one from a fall.

Woolen then stole the pastor's pickup truck and fled the scene, leading police on a road chase that at times exceeded 120 mph, the news outlet said. Police eventually apprehended the suspect, who had a gunshot wound to his hand, and took him into custody.

According to KXAN-TV, Woolen is now facing charges of aggravated assault, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and capital murder.

What else?

Authorities do not believe the crime was carried out for religious or political reasons, but instead suspect Woolen simply took advantage of the opportunity to hide in the church.

"The church just happened to be a location he could get into," explained Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith on Sunday.

Smith added that Woolen was known to law enforcement and was previously suspected of a drive-by shooting. He said police used dogs and drones to search for the suspect but were unable to locate him on Saturday night.

"We're looking at a capital murder investigation here," he confirmed.

While explaining he wasn't blaming or finding fault in the actions of church members present at the scene, he said that people brandishing a firearm "got to be willing to use it." Two of the people involved in the incident were reportedly carrying guns at the time.